Are there enough votes to override?

An electric rate hike proposal that triggered a shoving match between two state senators last spring could bring more legislative fisticuffs to the Capitol next week.

State Sen. Mike Jacobs, D-East Moline, said he thinks he’s convinced enough of his colleagues to vote in favor of overriding Gov. Pat Quinn’s veto of a proposal allowing Ameren and ComEd to boost electric rates in exchange for them paying for upgrades to an aging electric grid.

In all, Jacobs needs five lawmakers to change their votes from “no” to “yes.” […]

In the House, four members would have to change their votes to “yes” in order for Quinn’s veto to be nullified. Some lawmakers want to see follow-up legislation that would add additional layers of protections for consumers before they decide how they are going to vote.

* Methinks this development, if true, had more to do with lobbyists than the Senate sponsor. Campaign contributions probably didn’t hurt, either…

Illinois’ two largest utility providers have given $116,400 to the campaign warchests of lawmakers just weeks before the Legislature is expected to address a contentious rate-hike veto.

Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed legislation last month that would have allowed Commonwealth Edison Co. and Ameren to charge customers more to pay for statewide infrastructure upgrades. Under this proposal, Commonwealth Edison Co. customers would have seen their bill jump by $36 a year and Ameren customers by $40 more annually. […]

Commonwealth Edison Co. and its parent company, Exelon, and Ameren have donated to 38 legislators since Quinn’s veto Sept. 12, according to Illinois State Board of Election records.

* The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform has tallied over $900K from Smart Grid proponents this year…

The Smart Grid proposal would change the way that electricity rates are set, allowing companies like Commonwealth Edison and Ameren to charge more to upgrade the transmission system. Electric companies have given $939,680 to officials, candidates, and political parties in 2011. Top donors are Ameren, affiliated companies and employees ($399,188); Commonwealth Edison, its parent company Exelon, related companies and employees ($262,422); and Midwest Generation ($93,450). Top recipients are the Senate Democratic Victory Committee ($89,750), Citizens to Elect Tom Cross ($62,500), and the House Democratic Majority ($45,100).

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Oct 19, 11 @ 5:37 am

Comments

The well-known fact Senator Jacobs’ father is a registered lobbyist for ComEd, and the recent information that he has received $3K in campaign donations from utility companies since SB1652 was vetoed certainly raises some flags.

But there is another issue… even if you believe his view that this bill would truly benefit consumers (which I admit I do not), there is the issue that since most of his constituents are served by Mid-American Energy (out of Iowa) - which is not included in the bill - they will not be “benefitting” from SB1652. This raises a question about why he is carrying this bill if it does not “benefit” his district.

There’s just too many similarities between this bill (SB1652) and the “reverse electric rate auction”/”rate freeze” fight back in 2007. Back then ComEd had a front group called “C.O.R.E.” that told us we would have California-style brown-outs if we did not pay the auctions higher rates.

Now we have ComEd’s front group “Smart Energy Illinois” telling us we have a 100 year old system that will stop working if we don’t give them automatic annual rate hikes.

Both of these fights involved ComEd spending MILLIONS on campaign donations and advertising to get them higher profits.

Luckily, in 2007 the General Assembly did the right thing and got rid if the auction, created the Illinois Power Agency, and made ComEd and Ameren provide $1B in rate relief.

Hopefully, the General Assembly does the right thing again and upholds the Governor’s veto of SB1652.

Senator Jacobs has two State Representatives in his district. One is a democrat and one is a republican and they BOTH took money from Ameren and ComEd. If this bill doesn’t benefit Verschoore or Morthland’s districts then why are they taking money from these PAC groups?

I caution everyone not to count their chickens before they hatch with this piece of corporate theivery disguised as a piece of smart grid legislation…veto session aint over until the first week of November…lots of time for some whacky, wonderful,and surprising/not so surprising things to happen…

politicians must sometimes accept contributions from corporations in order to fund campaigns where they must sometimes distance themselves from those same supporters in order to sometimes win. i dont know whether to be upset with the politicians for being dishonest to constituents or constituents for being dishonest with ourselves about the workings of politicians.

we’re talking about improvements to infrastructure for better energy delivery and monitoring capabilities, among other things. aaide from current operating cost, this money will go more directly towards the improvement of a system created when nobody around could perceive its current implications.

you could almostsay that edison wouldnt have been worrying about his ipad dying during a blackout. he wouldnt have worried about his food going bad while waiting hours for service restoral. he wouldnt google charging stations for his nissan leaf.